Women's Asia Cup T20 final: Chamari Athapaththu opts to bat
India Women and Sri Lanka Women face each other in the final of the Women's Asia Cup T20 on Saturday. INDW topped the league stage earlier and then overcame Thailand Women in the semis. Sri Lanka Women stunned Pakistan Women in the other semi-final. The news from the stadium is that Chamari Athapaththu has won the toss and will bat first.
Pitch report, timing, and TV listing
The surface at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium will assist everyone. The side batting first will aim to post a significant total. The match will start at 1:00 PM (IST). One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and be streamed on Hotstar app (paid subscription). India had earlier beaten SLW in the league stage, winning by 41 runs.
A look at the top performers
Jemimah Rodrigues has scored 215 runs at an average of 71.66. She has two half-centuries under her belt. Madavi is the only other player to have amassed 200-plus runs (201) at 28.71. Shafali Verma has done well, scoring 161 runs from five games at 32.20. With the ball, Deepti Sharma has claimed 13 scalps at 7.15. For Lanka, Ranaweera has claimed 12 scalps at just 8.66.
India Women aiming to claim a 7th Asia Cup crown
India Women have claimed six Asia Cup trophies so far, besides being a finalist in the previous edition. India have won four tournaments in the ODI version and two in the 20-over format. Meanwhile, SLW are aiming to claim their maiden Asia Cup. SLW have been four-time runners up (ODI). SLW reached the semis, besides finishing fourth and 3rd in the 20-over format.
A look at the two teams
India Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad Sri Lanka Women (Playing XI): Chamari Athapaththu (c), Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Harshitha Madavi, Hasini Perera, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Malsha Shehani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Sugandika Kumari, Inoka Ranaweera, Achini Kulasuriya